Floyd Mayweather puts his undefeated record on the line Saturday night when he steps in to the ring against Miguel Cotto. Mayweather will earn at least $45 million for the bout that will feature at most 36 minutes of ring action. That is $1.25 million per minute of work if it lasts 12 rounds for the man many consider the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world right now. They call him "Money" for a reason.

Mayweather is the biggest draw in boxing since Mike Tyson was wreaking havoc in the 1990s. His pay is boosted by the fact that he controls the purse strings of his fights thanks to his role as a promoter through his company, Mayweather Promotions. Mayweather earned $40 million for his September bout against Victor Ortiz that had 1.25 million pay-per-view buys and grossed nearly $80 million from PPV.

Mayweather's contract guarantee for the Cotto fight is $32 million, which is the largest guarantee ever for a boxer (Cotto is guaranteed $8 million). It breaks the record of $30 million held by Mike Tyson in his rematch against Evander Holyfield in 1997. Mayweather's piece of the PPV revenue will bring his total take much higher.

In recent bouts Mayweather has netted roughly 50% of the gross PPV receipts. His last three fights have all eclipsed one million PPV buys. The Cotto fight could exceed 1.5 million buys at $60 a clip and net Mayweather as much as $50 million. It likely will be the second biggest non-heavyweight PPV bout ever. The record pay-per-view boxing event involved Mayweather, of course. His 2007 bout against Oscar De La Hoya had 2.4 million buyers.

Mayweather has had help selling the Cotto fight. HBO, which controls the PPV to Saturday's fight, promoted the bout through its "24/7" reality series that featured Mayweather and Cotto. Mayweather does not have personal endorsement deals, but he has attracted sponsors to the bout including AT&T, DeWalt, O'Reilly Auto Parts and the History Channel. Sponsors are paying $2 million in rights fees according to Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer (Golden Boy is promoting the fight with Mayweather Promotions). The real boost from sponsors is through their promotional value of the fight which is estimated to be $8.5 million. These promotions goose PPV sales and put more money in Mayweather's pocket.

Mayweather means big money for more than just himself. He was sentenced to three months in jail in December for a domestic violence conviction against the mother of three of his four children. Yet, a Las Vegas judge postponed Mayweather's sentence until June 1 to allow him to fight Cotto. The defense attorney argued that a Mayweather fight provides Las Vegas with an economic boost of more than $100 million.

The biggest economic boost for Las Vegas, Mayweather and boxing would be from a long-anticipated Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao bout. The two parties and their camps have been going back and forth for two years with name calling, Twitter challanges, defamation lawsuits and drug allegations. The fight would smash the Mayweather-De La Hoya pay-per-view record and generate as much as $250 million. The sticking point as always: money. The fight would seemingly generate enough cash to satisfy everyone, but egos come into play as Mayweather vows he deserves a bigger share of the total purse. When you are talking about Mayweather, it always comes back to money.